If you're going to be a renegade writer, at least use the manual
(Book Review)
And, as far as I'm concerned, the undisputed manual - no one's
disputed it with me yet - about how to be a renegade writer is
"The Renegade Writer" by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell
(the Marion Street Press, Inc.).
I recently finished reading this book and I can tell you,
renegades though they may be, these authors aren't sour rebels
who hate rules, they're common-sense writers who have the scoop
on how and when to bend or break them, and on which rules are
just plain silly.
In ten chapters, the authors address 50 to 100 rules and how to
"bend, spindle or mutilate" them. Chapters discuss breaking into
the business, generating ideas, querying, contracts, research,
interviews, grammar, getting paid, the proper attitude and how
to thrive in this business.
Here are some rules and how to damage them
One fabrication of the writing field is that you have to have
industry relationships to get anywhere. Diana and Linda assure
us that by coming up with great ideas and writing well, we will
establish all the relationships we need simply by e-mailing our
pitches in time and again, the electronic equivalent of cold
calling.
"When you assume..." etc. etc. Specifically, this rules says if
your proposal doesn't generate a response, assume your work
isn't wanted. I have been taken in by this erroneous rule
myself. I'm glad to hear that I can empower my career by
breaking it.
There are numerous reasons why editors don't respond - they can
be swamped, under-staffed or under-funded to name a few. If you
call or make contact, you may even find your idea is on file and
scheduled to be used later. I recently got an assignment from a
publication that had an old query of mine on file for about two
years. I just now found out about their interest.
Here's a rule breaker that threw me. You can fiddle with quotes!
Actually, I have been asked a few times by sources to spruce
things up so they sound good. In normal conversation, people
don't choose every word as though they were going to be quoted.
Later, though, they'll probably wish they had. One safe way to
break this rule is to come up with something you like that means
the same thing and ask the source if that's OK.
Reserving e-mail queries for editors who've already published
you is another bogus rule. I know because I query almost
exclusively by e-mail and with great success. I figure, in the
time it takes to type, print out, address and mail your query
along with printed clips, you can write many more e-mail queries
and send them on their way, and do it a lot cheaper too.
Writing only what you know is another one. Sure you have to do a
lot of research out of the gate to get up to snuff on an
unfamiliar topic, but, hey, that's what you do is research,
right?
In the Larger View
What I got out of this book and what you can, too, is ultimately
a list of ways to break down the barriers between you and the
success you desire.